


“Don’t touch my lute.”

by butcat



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Angst, Cute, F/M, Fanfic, Fanfiction, Fic, Fluff, Fun, Inspired by The Witcher, Love, One Shot, Oneshot, Romance, Short, Slow Burn, fan fic, romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23776198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butcat/pseuds/butcat
Summary: Pairing: Jaskier x female!readerSummary: Y/N has only been traveling with Geralt and Jaskier for a short while, but she and Jaskier have known one another since a few months before that. Being a bard herself, Y/N knows of Jaskier and just how utterly brilliant he is, she had even seen him perform a few times in Novigrad at the Chameleon - Though he had never seen her perform, only rumours. This knowledge causes her to feel anxious and refuse continuously when he asks her to play for them every few nights to truly hear her talent. What happens when one night, Jaskier leaves to wash up in the river, and Y/N decides to pick up his lute and sing but he returns before she finishes playing and hears her?
Relationships: Jaskier x reader, Jaskier | Dandelion & Reader, Jaskier | Dandelion/Original Female Character(s), Jaskier | Dandelion/Reader
Kudos: 28





	“Don’t touch my lute.”

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I never write, I’ve written 2 fics total and I’m not amazing so.. Help is cool but don’t bash me plz, this ain’t my job and I only do it for plain old fun, cool? Hope you enjoy!! Ps I’m in love with both Jaskier and Geralt I need helppppp

“Would you both fancy making our way to an inn once we’ve washed up?”

Jaskier asked Geralt and Y/N as they walked along the dirt path in the direction of the nearest river. Geralt’s brows furrowed slightly as he directed Roach’s reins in the right direction, thinking. Y/N’s walk turned into a skip, a smile now plastered across her lips, “Uhh, _yes, please!_ We’ve not eaten a proper supper in 3 days! I’ll even provide the coin!” Jaskier gasped, pressing his palm against his intricately detailed doublet, “No, _no,_ my Lady Y/N - I shall pay!” He bowed. Geralt rolled his eyes, exhaling through his nose, “Always the hero.” He murmured to himself as he watched the bard catch up to the skipping woman. 

They found a clearing where they began to set down all of their belongings. Jaskier and Geralt each sat on their own bedrolls whilst Y/N placed herself on the floor, leaning against a rock. After a while of watching the bard write poems in his notebook, she tilted her head and softly inquired, “Might I play your lute, Jaskier? I’ve not touched one in almost two months, I left mine in Novigrad..” Her eyes glistened in the evening glow and she crossed her legs. Jaskier hummed for a long time, looking into her blue eyes, before settling on, “ _Yes,_ as long as you sing to us.” His pink lips dipped into a smirk and he shot a quick look towards Geralt to gauge his reaction. Despite not looking up, his eyes and eyebrows gave away that he was interested. Y/N’s nose wrinkled up, “ _No,_ thank you.” Geralt’s left eyebrow rose and he looked up from writing an entry about Forktails into his bestiary, “You sing?” Y/N took a deep breath and shifted from side to side. Jaskier rose from his bedroll, slapped his thighs, bent forward slightly and raised his eyebrows at Y/N, “Yes, _she does_ \- However, I have not yet heard her despite being told brilliant things of the Angelic Y/N of Novigrad!”  
“You’ve seen me perform before!” Y/N huffed, folding her arms and leaning back against the rock. Jaskier’s face contorted in amusement and his voice came out somewhat petty, “Through a _window._ I couldn’t hear you.” Y/N grumbled, “Bet you could.” Jaskier picked up his lute and held it out right in front of Y/N’s face, the shiny wood almost tapping the tip of her nose, “Come on, just _once!_ ”  
“No!” Y/N spat, “Why?”, Jaskier put the lute back, the vibration of its strings due to impact causing an ugly chord.  
“Can you not just go and wash up now, Jaskier?! I’ve no need to give you a reason!” Y/N raised her voice slightly, her heart slowly making its way into her throat. Jaskier pursed his lips, thinking of how to respond, lifted his finger into the air, gritted his teeth, dropped his arm, and turned back to his belongings with an exasperated sigh.

Y/N pulled an apple from her knapsack, taking a big bite. Jaskier began unpacking his linen towel along with a wooden hairbrush and some other things, “ _Right,_ I’m having a wash in the river, no touching my lute, _Y/N._ Not unless you want to initiate an impromptu performance?” His icy blue eyes narrowed and he flashed a toothy smile, targeting Y/N’s and her chewing slowed. She sighed and spoke with a full mouth, spitting slightly at Jaskier, “No, _bard._ ” Jaskier’s eyes widened in disgust, “That makes _one_ of us. Someone’s touchy tonight..” He spoke in a hushed tone as he walked off towards the river. Geralt smirked but kept quiet, enjoying the dynamic between the two.

Geralt sat silently with his right leg bent at the knee and his arm resting on it, sketching. Y/N shook her head, groaned, got up and made her way over to Geralt, sitting down next to him to watch him fill his bestiary in peace as they did most nights, “What _is_ that _thing?_ Ff-fog-let? Wh- what’s one of those?” She leaned over his left side to get a better look at his sketch, brushing shoulders. Usually, Geralt would slowly lean away, but he liked Y/N. Maybe even had a soft spot for her. They’d gotten as close as a lady bard and witcher could have after only knowing one another for eight months - and Jaskier wasn’t much of a fan of that at the moment.  
“Why don’t you want to sing if you’re known for performing so well?” He frowned, tilting his head to look her in the eye, “Because _Geralt,_ have you heard Jaskier sing? I don’t want to sing to him. He’s too good, I’m just okay.” She spoke with a slight angry heat, perhaps towards herself, blinking a few times, and diverting her eyes away from Geralt’s piercing ones by looking elsewhere on his face, taking in his strong features, especially when he is pulling a face such as that, “Yet you always jest about your brilliant skill?”  
“Yes but.. That’s just for fun, I’d die if Jaskier heard me. He’d..” She paused, debating whether to continue, flickering her gaze up to Geralt’s, “He’d?” Geralt asked, raising his brows, “He’d.. He’d hate it, he’d go off me. I’d rather let him hear the reviews and not dare let him hear it himself. He’s legendary, I can’t compare myself to him! He’d laugh and I’d be broken. Or he’d lie and say I was good to please me. Especially now.” Geralt hummed, leaning back a bit. Something had begun that nobody could stop. Y/N had fallen for Jaskier. Geralt decided that the best option for this moment was to leave. He arose, unpacking his towel, gave Y/N an unsure but calm expression, and left for the river.  
Y/N was left ruminating in her own self-loathing and confusion. She got up, set her bedroll onto the floor and lay down, away from Jaskier’s, nearest to Roach as she enjoyed her company.  
“Oh, _fuck it._ ” She quickly got up, snatched Jaskier’s lute from his belongings, positioning herself on her bedroll, cross-legged, facing out into the forest. She started to play, first quietly, and once she knew she wasn’t heard, a bit louder.  
A few minutes later, as Jaskier and Geralt made their way back from the river, they started to hear music, “What- What is that? _Geralt?_ ” Jaskier spun around a few times as he tried to discern where it was coming from. Geralt’s lower eyelids rose in amusement. Jaskier took in an overly dramatic breath, “She. Took. My LUTE!” He spat possessively and began to take off before Geralt lunged forward, wrapping his big hand around Jaskier’s left arm and yanking him backward, earning a squeak from the bard, “Jaskier.” He growled, “What? It’s mine! She wouldn’t play anyw-!”

“Listen.”

They became quiet, inching closer to the sound until they could finally hear clearly. After a few moments, Jaskier’s mouth opened in awe. They made their way closer to the clearing to listen. Geralt watched Jaskier, he was leaning his head and hand against a tree, patiently listening, with the most genuine loving expression he had seen on the bard yet.

“She’s ethereal, isn’t she? I knew she was good.” Jaskier’s mouth was hardly moving as he whispered, trying to make as little sound as possible so that he could listen, “Why would she keep such beauty from me?”  
“She’s scared.” Geralt said under his breath, “She’s.. She’s what? She’s scared?” Jaskier’s brows furrowed in confusion,  
“She doesn’t want to perform in front of you because she doesn’t believe that she’s good enough. She said you’d laugh.” Geralt shrugged and shook his head, “I can’t believe it.” Jaskier’s eyes were staring at the forest floor, melancholic but still heavy with emotion.  
Y/N smiled, gently setting the lute down, “Is that where he left it, Roach? I think that’s where he left it. I hope so. I don’t want to be singing to him any time soon.” Jaskier crept his way out from within the trees, “You just did.” He gave a friendly smile and a pathetically nervous wave of his hand. Y/N sucked in a big breath, “Jaskier..?” Her eyes were wide and piercing as if she were a child being caught carving into the house walls by her parent, “I listened, Lady Y/N. You have a _beautiful_ voice.” Jaskier swallowed anxiously, approaching as if she were a wild rabbit about to flee, which she was, “No. You don’t mean that.” Y/N got up, retrieving her towel from her bag, clutching it to her chest, trying to steady her breath, “I’m sorry for using your lute, Jask. I- I just wanted to play, I’ve missed it.” Geralt made his way out from within the trees, “Calm down, Y/N.” His voice was soft yet stern, “I can’t, Geralt. Sorry, Jaskier..” “Please, don’t apologise, that was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard!” Jaskier’s voice got louder the further away Y/N got as she panicked and ran to the river, Jaskier’s eyes followed her then made their way to Geralt, brows furrowing heavily, “Are you going to tell me what just bloody happened? I was being _nice!_ To a _bard!_ And I meant it!” He raised his shoulders and eyebrows in sync. Geralt's eyelids lowered, his face muscles relaxing, “Surprising.” Geralt sat back down on his bedroll, folding his arms and looking at the stars. However, when he glanced over, Jaskier was looking at him expectantly, “What?” Geralt asked lazily, “What do you mean _‘what’?_ Tell me what’s wrong with Y/N?”

“ _Fine._ ”

Y/N exhaled heavily as she entered the water to bathe. The cool water helping her anxious feelings towards Jaskier, “ _Gods,_ I shouldn’t have touched his lute at all. Fuck. What if his feelings change?” She sat, speaking to the trees, a light breeze falling over her frame along with the moonlight, and the hairs on her skin pricking upwards. After what seemed like an hour, she plucked up the courage to get dry and dressed and return to their miniature camp. Entering the clearing with a big breath, the first thing she laid her now tired eyes upon was Geralt meditating. She smiled, wishing she had the mental power to sit in silence for that long. Looking to the right she saw Jaskier.. Fast asleep. Snoring. Incredibly loudly. Her chest felt heavy and loving as she stood watching him sleep. Turning towards her own bedroll, suddenly feeling tired, she took in a soft gasp. Jaskier’s lute was resting on her pillow with a handwritten note with many words scribbled onto it but the ones most notable were “I did mean it. You can play my lute anytime, beautiful lady Y/N.” Y/N sighed, smiled widely and that night, slept with Jaskier’s lute by her side.


End file.
